Effective measures to bring down prices, more money to offset the rising prices of almost all commodities, more economic reforms, an urban employment guarantee scheme and a citizen-friendly tax administration set-up…HT reports. Citizen charter

32 bills, including the controversial Press and Registration of Books and Publications bill, as also the Land Acquisition (Amendment) bill, will be introduced in Parliament during the Budget session beginning February 21.

Petrol and diesel may become cheaper after the Budget as Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee is expected to slash excise and customs duties on these two fuels in his Budget for 2011-12. Gaurav Choudhury and Anupama Airy report.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's embattled government will likely boost spending on social programmes in a populist budget on Monday, even as India is threatened with a potentially ballooning subsidy bill for food and fuel.

Facing crunch of funds, railways minister Mamataa Banerjee plans to cut down the allocation of passenger safety works by approximately R350 crore, even as she intends to make symbolic announcements for poll-bound West Bengal. Srinand Jha reports.

budget 2011—12 &You

Expenditure secretary Sushma Nath took charge as the new finance secretary on Tuesday, becoming the first woman to occupy the post that drives bureaucratic coordination of the country’s financial policies, barely four weeks ahead of the presentation of the budget for 2011-12. HT reports.